Some of Noongar elder Harry Nannup’s fondest memories are of his childhood around the Serpentine River, where he lived with his parents Joseph and Dulcie.
They lived in several locations along its banks and used the waterways to fish mullet, bream, yellow tail, mulloway, crabs prawns and cobbler.
“I loved the river, and I never starved when I was there,” he said.
“We didn’t have a house but we never went hungry.
“I caught the fish, I caught the turtle, I caught the Bardi grub.
“Tying a bit of string to my toe and waiting for the fish to bite.”
Many years later, Mr Nannup’s grandchildren still visit the river and learn about the the Woggaal spirit, their country and their ancestors.
Now, part of Mr Nannup’s family history will be carved in stone, after the City of Mandurah decided to name one of the trails along the river after Joseph and Dulcie Nannup.
“My family worked hard here for a long time without being recognised for what they’d done,” Mr Nannup said.
“It means so much to me that they’re being recognised like this.”
The City of Mandurah decided to name the 3.5km trail after the Nannup family as part of a recent project to protect and restore the banks of the Serpentine River.
As part of the project, the newly named Joseph Dulcie Nannup trail – which extends from Bedingfeld Road in the north to Old Pinjarra Road in the south – was upgraded and a new boardwalk was constructed.
“Things like this are so important because they keep the memories alive and they say to the Aboriginal people ‘your lives matter, you are people too’,” Mr Nannup said.
“It was so important for us to know there was someone out there, someone who had power who wanted to show they care.”
Mr Nannup said he had walked down the trail several times over the years with Mandurah’s former mayor Paddi Creevy talking about how older generations used to live there.
It was in one of those walks that he came up with the idea of lobbying to name one of the trails after his parents.
“Now, in a couple of weeks, the [City of Mandurah] is going to commemorate the place my family is from, the place where I was born, the place where I grew up,” he said.
“And that’s amazing to me.”
An official ceremony will be held in the near future to open the path where Mr Nannup will share his family history and some of his culture’s traditions.